Knutsen Hegdal is stepping down as mayor of Stavanger. The reason is the misuse of party funds for private consumption during the 2023 election campaign, writes Stavanger Aftenblad (external link). She tells the newspaper in a longer interview in her private home in Madla on Wednesday. The Conservative Party confirms the departure in a press release. – I see I have made a mistake, she says to Stavanger Aftenblad. It is about the use of party funds for private use when she was a mayoral candidate last year. This should have appeared in an internal review of the accounts for 2023 which was carried out this spring. The Conservative Party confirms the departure in a press release. Yesterday, Hegdal notified the group board of Stavanger Høyre that she wants to step down as mayor of Stavanger, a position she has held since October 2023, the press release states. Trond Birkedal is the communications advisor to Sissel Knutsen Hegdal. He tells news that Hegdal is on sick leave, and therefore cannot comment. Used payment cards linked to the city council group In connection with the closing of Stavanger Høyre’s city council group’s accounts for 2023, it emerged through internal control that a payment card linked to the city council group’s account had been used to pay for expenses that should not have been charged to the city council group. This has happened on at least nine occasions in the period January to September 2023. The card in question was disposed of by Sissel Knutsen Hegdal, who during this period was Høyre’s group leader in Stavanger city council. The case thus concerns circumstances that took place before she was elected mayor. The transactions concern several cases of online shopping, plane tickets to places without documenting work-related purposes, a plane ticket for a family member, festival tickets and lavish private dinners at, among others, Vaar and Harry Pepper in Stavanger. Sissel Knutsen Hegdal did not want to contribute to this press release, but has repaid a total of NOK. 51,148 to Stavanger Høyre’s city council group. Mayor for less than a year In October last year, Sissel Knutsen Hegdal from the Conservative Party was officially elected as the new mayor of Stavanger. She took over for Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap), who is now Minister of Knowledge. The Conservatives formed a majority together with the Frp, Venstre and KrF. Henrik Helleland from KrF is deputy mayor. Hegdal from when it became clear that she would become mayor. Photo: Erik Waage / news The bourgeois had barely a possible majority, with 34 out of 67 representatives in the municipal council. Stavanger Conservative Party will start an internal process to find a new mayoral candidate from among the Conservative Party’s other members of the city council. A group meeting will be held in Stavanger Høyre on Wednesday evening. Published 04/09/2024, at 14.11 Updated 04.09.2024, at 14.23
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Sissel Knutsen Hegdal resigns as mayor of Stavanger – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
